By Glenn Hicks

uranium mining

Spot price spikes but no word on re-opening of mines

Feb 11, 2019 | 5:51 PM

There is still no indication as to when the dormant Cameco operations at McArthur River/ Key Lake will re-open, despite a bounce back in immediate, or “spot” uranium prices.

That was the message from CEO Tim Gitzel on a fourth quarter investor and media call Monday, who labelled the all-important long term contract price market “tentative.”

“While we are seeing some positive developments, we have not yet seen the type of response needed from the uranium market to restart,” he said. “Unfortunately today’s prices are still nowhere near, not even close, to the levels needed.”

Gitzel’s sobering words for the long term price were in contrast to the immediate gains the company has seen as a result of their role in reducing global inventory.

Nursing

Studying Nursing with the University of Saskatchewan

3h ago

Red Pheasant Cree Nation

Miss Indigenous Canada Pageant contestant Khoniss Wuttunee says 'life promotion' part of her philosophy

3h ago

MVP Finalist

North Stars' Bell joins rarefied air with CJHL nomination

May 07, 2024

Production cuts and some short-term price gains helped Cameco post a better-than-expected profit in its latest quarter.

The drop in supplies from Cameco and other producers, and some increased demand, helped boost spot market prices by about 20 per cent since the start of 2018.

Gitzel said the company’s actions had helped remove excess material from the spot market and “our suspension of production at McArthur River/Key Lake, the draw down in our inventory, and the resulting demand we have for uranium to meet delivery commitments clearly played a role in that clean-up.”

This shorter term improvement will come as little consolation for the near 700 people who were permanently laid off in July at the northern Saskatchewan operations and at their corporate office.

While Gitzel was eager to stress the key factor for the industry’s future was a resurgence in the long term contract price, he noted there had been a return to more normal consumption last year.

“In 2018 the market finally reached the point where, on an annual basis, consumption returned to pre-2011 levels,” he said. “We filled in the pothole of lost demand and that demand continues to grow; not at a rocketship rate but, with 50 reactors under construction, there is steady growth.”

The company reported Friday a profit of $160 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $62 million for the same quarter a year earlier.

Adjusted net earnings were $202 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with adjusted earnings of $181 million or 46 cents per share for the same quarter in 2017.

With files from Canadian Press

—

(Photo: submitted/Cameco)

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow